V. I. LENIN — TO THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
28. VII. 1905

Dear Friends!

It is necessary to resolve as quickly as possible the following 2 important questions: 1) Concerning Plekhanov. We have entrusted a special agent, Lyadov,*) **) to tell you how matters stand. I will repeat briefly. Plekhanov has acted with incredible audacity, writing to the Inter[national] Socialist] Bureau that he has already been recognized (!) by both Factions, and slandering, discrediting in every way our 3rd Congress. I have a copy of his letter, sent to me from the Bureau. It will be sent to you 1). I have achieved, with great difficulty, direct relations with the International] Socialist] Bureau and refuted Plekhanov 2). Plekhanov then refused the representation. You know that I was by no means an unconditional opponent of appointing Plekhanov, but now this would be directly unthinkable. It would so completely disavow me that my position would become impossible. It would finally ruin us in the eyes of the International] S[ocialist] Bureau. Do not forget that almost all foreign s[ocial]-d[emocrats] are on the side of the "icons" and consider us nothing, treat us dismissively. You will spoil the whole affair if you take a careless step. Therefore I urgently request Werner [A. A. Bogdanov] and Schmidt [P. P. Rumyantsev] ***) as soon as possible, even if only provisionally, to confirm my steps. That is one thing. And the second: to propose to Plekhanov a scientific organ on behalf of the C. C. R. S.-D. R. P., on the condition that Plekhanov recognizes the 3rd Congress and the obligatoriness of its decisions for himself. If he rejects it, then the blame falls on him, and we have proved our conciliatory spirit. If he accepts, then we will take a further step towards him. So: I most urgently advise you to cancel the decision on representation, and concerning the scientific organ, to draft it with this condition. 2) Concerning the offer of mediation on the part of the International] S[ocialist] Bureau. The full text will be sent to you, although Lyadov has already taken it for you. The International] Socialist] Bureau proposes for reconciliation a conference between us and the m[inority] with the chairmanship of members of the International] Socialist] Bureau. Foreign s[ocial]-d[emocrats] (Bebel and others) are agitating intensely for the I[nternational] S[ocialist] B[ureau] to exert pressure on us. Such letters have even come from the English (the "S[ocial]-D[emocratic] Federation"—I have a copy of the letter—in the usual conciliatory spirit, saying that it is a crime to quarrel at such a time, etc.). I wrote to the I[nternational] S[ocialist] B[ureau] that I myself am not competent to decide this question; the decision of the entire C. C. is needed, to which I am writing immediately. Then I inquired whether they have in mind mediation only, or binding arbitration obligatory for both sides—it is important for me to write about this to the C. C. We have not yet received an answer from them.

My opinion is as follows. Agree unconditionally to the conference. Set the time around September 1st. Be sure to send 1-2 members of the C. C. from Russia to it (do not forget that our Congress is set for September 1st and that it is extremely necessary in all respects). Accept mediation with gratitude. Reject binding arbitration on the basis of the resolution of the 3rd Congress, which binds us unconditionally and which states that the conditions of complete merger with the m[inority] m[ust] b[e] presented for approval to the 4th Congress. We were charged by the 3rd Congress to prepare and work out these conditions, but not to approve them finally. In executing the assignment of the 3rd Congress, we accept mediation, we shall try to work out the most detailed modus of agreement right now and of gradual merger. If successful, we effect the agreement immediately, and propose the plan of merger to the 4th Congress, which then must be convened at the same time and in the same place as the obligatory congress of all organizations of the m[inority]. It is extremely important to keep in mind that the m[inority] has no center whose decisions are obligatory for them. Iskra is not subordinate to the Organizational] Commission. We must not play the fool by negotiating with people who have no right and no power to speak in the name of the entire m[inority]. It is therefore necessary to point out at once that delegates from the minority] at the meeting with the International] Socialist] Bureau must be from both the Organizational] C[ommission] and from Iskra, and moreover must promise to consult in a short time all organizations of the m[inority], giving us their list. However, if from the Russian point of view it is more important to you that Russian Mensheviks predominate, then you will decide whether special delegates from Iskra are necessary. That is for you to judge. But do not forget that without the consent of Iskra all agreements will be a fiction. Another question: is it necessary to communicate to the International] Socialist] Bureau the secret resolution of the 3rd Congress 3)? Are we entitled to do this? I hesitate. Of course, communication to comrade-socialists of Europe is not a "publication" and they can be obliged not to publish it. But is it expedient? Decide for yourselves. It is easy to give a satisfactory explanation even without communicating the resolution of the 3rd Congress that binds us.

The open letter of the Organizational] C[ommission] I shall print in *Proletarii* (No. 10 is already coming out); I did not print it before because I was waiting for clarification from you, which came only yesterday. We ask you very much to inscribe on each document whether to print it and immediately *) **).

So, answer as quickly as possible on behalf of Werner, [A. A. Bogdanov] and Schmidt [P. P. Rumyantsev] **) at least: 1) Will you write the answer to the International] S[ocialist] Bureau yourselves or are you entrusting it to me? 2) Do you approve my answer or not? 3) If not, I would very much ask you to hurry with a reply so that we can come to complete understanding: any misunderstanding in such a matter, or lack of clarity or lack of information, is fraught with great dangers.

P. S. Please forward my letters to Dufoux [D. S. Postolovsky]; I do not have his address ***).

1) Plekhanov's letter of June 16, 1905 was published in "Red Chronicle" No. 1 (12) 1925, p. 119. Its content was briefly set forth by Vladimir Ilyich in *Proletarii* No. 20, of October 10 (September 27), 1905, as follows: "Plekhanov sent to the Inter[national] Bureau

on June 16 a letter in which he (a) erroneously asserted that he was already authorized to representation by both Factions, and (b) recounted the history of the split since the II Congress and recounted it with a series of deviations from truth, completely in the Menshevik spirit, calling the convocation of the III Congress by the C. C. 'an act of absolute arbitrariness', declaring the conciliators in our party 'a bog', saying that at the Congress there was 'something like half' of 'fully-entitled' organizations, that the Congress was 'a combination of ultra-centralists and bog', etc."

2) Letter of Vladimir Ilyich to the Inter[national] Soc. Bureau of July 24, 1905, containing a refutation of Plekhanov's letter. (See Works, vol. VIII, pp. 9–12.)

3) At the twentieth session of the III Congress of the R. S.-D.R.P. on May 6 (April 23), 1905, a resolution "not subject to publication" by Kitayev [A. M. Essen] and Osipov [Zemlychka] was adopted: "The III Congress of the R. S.-D.R.P. instructs the Central Committee to take all measures to prepare and work out the conditions of merger with the seceded part of the R. S.-D.R.P., whereby the final approval of such conditions should be left to a new party congress." Two more resolutions concerning the attitude toward the Mensheviks were adopted at the III Congress. (See Works, vol. VIII, pp. 475–476, note 18.) Concerning the secret resolution, see in the present collection p. 501.

4) See notes 6 and 7 on p. 482.